How to Avoid Carbs and Make Good Protein Choices

Carbs aren’t necessarily bad for you. In fact, they provide lots of energy for you to get through your day. But for some, reducing carbs is a quick way to lose weight without feeling like they’re having to give up many of their favorite foods.

Part of the problem is, most men and women get far too many carbs – way more than they need for energy. They might even eat mostly carbs, avoiding protein, so they never feel full for long, and constantly want to snack throughout the day.

This packs on pounds quickly. A typical carb-laden diet might be donuts for breakfast, a sandwich with fruit and chips for lunch, and pasta for dinner. There’s very little (if any) protein in a diet like that, so the person is always hungry, and might even add dessert carbs to the mix, too.

Try reducing your carb count to under 100, lowering that number the more weight you want to lose at a faster speed. You can focus on net carbs when you look at the nutrition label.

Net carbs are the total amount of carbs minus the fiber count in the product. This actually allows you to eat more carbs than if you simply tally the total carbs on the label and log those in your tracking system.

Swap out certain foods for low carb options. For example, if you like making bean burritos at home, switch your regular white flour tortilla with a white flour low carb option. A regular tortilla has about 98 carbs, but you can find low carb options with only 4 carbs in them.

Or, invest in low carb bread that you can order online from places like Netrition. The bread looks, feels and tastes like white bread, so the flavor is there, and you don’t feel deprived.

Focus more on eating carb-friendly vegetables (like broccoli or avocados) and fruits (like berries). Eat plenty of protein. Don’t worry about the fat content. If you like a marbled steak, go for it!

You can even have real butter and plenty of cheese when you’re on a low carb, high protein diet. Fat isn’t the enemy. In fact, it gives you that full sensation you need to stave off the munchies.

If you’re craving dessert, there are low carb option you can make such as chocolate bombs. Or, buy sugar free candies in the store made for diabetics – because these give you the sweetness you desire, without the heavy carbs!